Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
For at least 30 years, state lawmakers in Augusta have fiercely debated whether Maine voters should be required to show a photo ID before casting a ballot. And in every instance, those voter ID proposals have failed at the Legislature.
Next month, Maine voters will get their chance to weigh in on the long-simmering issue. But Question 1 isn’t merely about voter ID. The initiative also aims to make numerous changes to an absentee balloting process that’s so popular that roughly 45% of Maine voters cast absentee ballots during the November 2024 elections.
Question 1 asks voters: “Do you want to change Maine election laws to eliminate two days of absentee voting, prohibit requests for absentee ballots by phone or family members, end ongoing absentee voter status for seniors and people with disabilities, ban prepaid postage on absentee ballot return envelopes, limit the number of drop boxes, require voters to show certain photo ID before voting, and make other changes to our elections?”
Election day is Nov. 4, 2025.
Read more election coverage at mainepublic.org/yourvote.
#mepolitics #yourvote #elections
Video host and producer: Esta Pratt-Kielley / Maine Public
Reporting and analysis: Kevin Miller / Maine Public
Videographer: Tulley Hescock / Maine Public
For at least 30 years, state lawmakers in Augusta have fiercely debated whether Maine voters should be required to show a photo ID before casting a ballot. And in every instance, those voter ID proposals have failed at the Legislature.
Next month, Maine voters will get their chance to weigh in on the long-simmering issue. But Question 1 isn’t merely about voter ID. The initiative also aims to make numerous changes to an absentee balloting process that’s so popular that roughly 45% of Maine voters cast absentee ballots during the November 2024 elections.
Question 1 asks voters: “Do you want to change Maine election laws to eliminate two days of absentee voting, prohibit requests for absentee ballots by phone or family members, end ongoing absentee voter status for seniors and people with disabilities, ban prepaid postage on absentee ballot return envelopes, limit the number of drop boxes, require voters to show certain photo ID before voting, and make other changes to our elections?”
Election day is Nov. 4, 2025.
Read more election coverage at mainepublic.org/yourvote.
#mepolitics #yourvote #elections
Video host and producer: Esta Pratt-Kielley / Maine Public
Reporting and analysis: Kevin Miller / Maine Public
Videographer: Tulley Hescock / Maine Public
